Alumnae

Kim Adkins comes from a humble, loving family. She was born and raised in Salisbury, Maryland, by parents who owned and operated an auto body shop where she worked on weekends starting as early as she can remember.
Kim was the first in her family to graduate college. While working her way through college, Kim earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism with a minor in marketing from the University of Maryland.

Sindy Marisol Benavides currently serves as the National Director for Civic Engagement and Mobilization for the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest civil rights Hispanic organization in the country. She previously served as the Vice President of Field & Political Operations for Voto Latino and as Northern Virginia Political Director for the 2012 Kaine for Virginia Senatorial campaign. She has also served as the National Director of Community Outreach for the Democratic National Committee and Latino Liaison and Director of Board Appointments for Governor Timothy M.

Jennifer Boysko currently serves as aide to Dranesville Supervisor John Foust. She staffs the Supervisor on all matters related to Economic Advisory Committee and Audit Committee and for all Virginia Department of Transportation Maintenance and Housing issues. She serves as liaison to help solve district challenges, address constituent issues, and find solutions to problems.
Working with various homeowners associations and local organizations she provide connections between constituents, groups and organizations to County agencies and officials.

Karen is a Community Development Planner specializing in transportation and community revitalization; She has managed various public involvement and community coordination projects throughout their lifecycle from inspection, design to implementation. Utilizing her in-depth knowledge and experience in planning techniques and regulatory requirements, she is committed to work side-by-side with communities to design equitable transportation solutions, and promote smart-growth legislation and policies.

Nicole is a Team Manager/Senior Computer Engineering Consultant out of Virginia Beach, Virginia where she works with partners such as Microsoft, HP, Dell, and Cisco and many others. She consults with small, medium to enterprise level businesses, cities, schools and colleges all around Hampton Roads and greater Virginia architecting IT solutions for implementation by her and her team. Nicole is also very active in the Hampton Roads LGBT community, working with politicians, and also served as President of Hampton Roads Business Outreach. In addition, Nicole also is a regular volunteer for o

Lorita Copeland Daniels is a current doctoral student at Virginia Tech, where she is studying public administration/public policy. Prior to this, she traveled around the globe with her husband and two children via the military. During her travels, she worked on various committees and served and chaired on community boards. In addition to her service to her community, she is also very active in her children's education. Last year, she added another bundle of joy to her family.

Traci Dippert is running for the 17th District seat in the Virginia Senate because Virginia can do better. As an educator, small business owner, and a woman, she represents a large cross section of Virginia voters. Government needs to enact common sense legislation across party lines for the good of the people. Traci wants to represent you in the Senate because she has a vision for a better Virginia.
Traci grew up in the same small town in upstate NY as her parents and grandparents who have been married for 45 and 68 years respectively. Growing up, she loved playing sports and making musi

Joana Garcia is a retired Naval Officer, a student at George Mason University, a mother of two boys and a wife of a retired Air Force Officer. After retiring from the Unites States Navy she began a grassroots movement to fully implement Full Day Kindergarten in Fairfax County, VA. As a result of her efforts, every child will receive a full day of instruction. She is active in her local Home Owners Association and her children’s elementary school PTO. After 20 years of active duty, Joana and her family have settled in Northern Virginia.

Deshundra Jefferson is a Press Secretary at the U.S. House of Representatives. She worked as a Press Secretary on a DCCC Emerging Race during the 2012 election cycle and has over 10 years of journalism experience. Deshundra graduated from Columbia University with a degree in political science.

On November 26, 2013, Stacey Ann Kincaid was sworn in as the first woman to lead the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in its 271-year history. The sheriff serves Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax and the Towns of Herndon and Vienna. Sheriff Kincaid is a 27-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. She has served in line and supervisory positions in agency operations, including confinement, alternatives to incarceration, court security and administration.

Elizabeth King is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. Dedicated to public service, Elizabeth assisted with constituent outreach for Senator Barbara Boxer’s Los Angeles office and has assisted at numerous fundraisers, for, among others, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Diane Feinstein and President Bill Clinton. She has also personally raised money to help preserve wilderness areas. As a Freshman studying Political Science at UCLA, Elizabeth originated the pilot recycling project now im

Valerie works as Director of Public Sector Career Development at the University of Richmond School of Law. Prior to that, she served as an assistant public defender in Charlottesville, Virginia. Before attending law school, she worked at Virginians Aligned Against Sexual Assault, the state coalition of sexual assault crisis centers. She is a Writer-in-Residence of Ms. JD, an organization dedicated to the success of women lawyers and law students, and has served on the boards of many governmental and non-profit boards and committees.

Tammi Lambert is a veteran of the United States who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and is committed to continuous service. She is very passionate about veteran advocacy, policies and outreach. She has worked on political and issue campaigns. Some of the issues she has worked on include low-income and minorities, with an emphasis on affordable housing, elections education and training. She is an alumna of the University of Virginia Sorensen Institute Political Leaders Program.

Amy was elected to the Charlottesviile School Board in 2012 and elected Vice Chair of the Board in 2013.
During her short tenure on School Board, she has approve $70 million annual budget, led initiatives to maintain and improve summer programs, is currently leading an initiative for better data reporting and tracking of student performance, has lobbied successfully to defeat House Budget Amendment (Item 139#3h) (Del.

Tory Lauterbach is an energy attorney in private practice, where she helps public utilities build and maintain transmission infrastructure throughout the United States. Before becoming an attorney, Tory was the President of the Texas College Democrats, where she spearheaded the organization's first annual student lobby day and led get-out-the-vote efforts for colleges across the state, and was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Tory has worked on numerous local and national political campaigns.

Susan Lawyer Willis owns and operates TransformED Leadership. Ms. Willis is a career C-level executive, educator and human services advocate. Her extensive administrative background involves several years as a Central Office Administrator and school principal as well as a university adjunct faculty member. She is currently a certified National Principal mentor and coach. She is the Founder and CEO of TransformED Leadership, LLC, and also served as the Chief Administrative Officer of Mosaica Education – a company that develops charter school programs.

Andria McClellan is a community volunteer, civic leader and fundraiser. She started her career in sales/marketing for two Fortune 500 companies, and then ran two small businesses before deciding to take some time off to spend with her family. Andria is currently a Planning Commissioner for the city of Norfolk, in addition to serving on several boards in the community, focused on social services, education, the environment and the arts.

Joan Neal is an independent strategist and organizational development consultant. Prior to starting her own business, she was the Vice President and Chief Planning Officer at Cabrini College in Pennsylvania. She also served in the international development arena as Executive Vice President at Catholic Relief Services and as a Vice President at several major banks in Chicago, Illinois. Joan is active in community and civic affairs and has served on the boards of many non-profit educational, policy and service organizations. She has an interest in public policy and currently serves as a Seni

Sheila won re-election to the Herndon Town Council in May, 2014 for a third term. Upon her election in 2010, she immediately set about focusing on economic development, fiscal responsibility, government transparency, and improving local amenities.
With her new colleagues, Sheila approved a downtown master plan, worked closely with the County to plan for the new Metro station, passed the town’s first campaign finance disclosure requirements, created a Go Green initiative.

Ashley is currently the Program Manager of Bank On Roanoke Valley which is based out of the United Way of the Roanoke Valley. She also is a full time Ph.D. Student in Public Administration and Policy at the Center for Public Administration and Policy -- Virginia Tech, as well as a Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Fellow. She was formerly a Magistrate Judge in the 23rd Judicial District of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Lorena Rios is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She is a serving board member of the Regional Transportation Citizens Advisory Committee at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. She is the co-founder of Hispanic American Freethinkers, a nonprofit educational organizational. Lorena is committed to educating all students with emphasis on disadvantaged Latino students to think critically and to become civically engaged in all areas of the democratic process. She is actively involved in transportation, housing affordability, and sustainability issues.

Alexsis is a Hanover native, who made her way to Richmond, by way of Henrico. As a public relations professional at PadillaCRT’s Richmond office, she has helped engage local communities in discussions about the future of pediatric care in the region and worked with government officials to promote passenger rail service and environmental conservation there.
Alexsis built a grassroots network of volunteers in Henrico as a community organizer for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

Vicki graduated with a Master of Social Work from VCU in 2014. While in undergraduate studies, she was President of the Young Democrats at VCU, founded the Social Justice Alliance, and received the Advancement of Women’s Scholarship from the VCU School of Business as well as the Hatcher-Merit Scholarship, Leadership, and Social Justice Awards from the School of Social Work.

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